Secrets should stay hidden
by tegan morrison
Summary: We only see one side of Tonk's, what has she done that will make us question her? Her past is back and in the form of a snakry exboyfriend. Please Reveiw.
1. Max is Back

Tonks glared at the blond man with the slicked back hair which shone because of the massive amounts of oil he had worked into over his morning four hour grooming routine. He was one of those people that rarely smiled, but even if he did the gleaming white teeth his chap-sticked lips would reveal would blind you, that wasn't it, he was a smirker. One of those annoyingly confident people that very rarely was ever rejected or denied. Tonks however was trying increasingly hard to wipe her ex boyfriends smirk of his heterosexual close shaved and moisturised face.

"Tonks, baby, honey, sweetheart. Don't deny we had fun together. What are you doing in that ridiculous get-up?" He set forth his perfectly manicured figures to clasp her hand, but not before he ran his fingers gingerly through her brown locks. "Common, I can barely see the real you under there." Tonks didn't want to give him the satisfaction, but she knew the longer she stayed in her disguise the longer he would have to make fun of her new look.

She shook her brown hair lightly as the colour faded to a honey blonde, her nose lengthened and her eyes transformed to a lovely shade of blue/green. Her tattoos slowly appeared the rose and hearts on her lower back and the angel on her right shoulder re-appeared for the first time that year. He smiled; she hated it when he smiled. It was a self satisfying smile, he gave her an up and down and frowned.

"Too bad your powers don't change your clothes. I for one was a BIG BIG fan of your leather hip huggers." She glared at him, she'd like to believe she'd left that alter ego of hers behind, that messed up, chain smoking, borderline alcoholic behaviour was now a thing of the past, it was people like Max that kept bringing her back.

She surprisingly didn't miss her old life, being an assassin was so detached. Although the initial idea of being a bodyguard was lost to her on a career level, but she liked the feeling of belonging despite her demotion to the status of bodyguard and modest clothing she was starting to enjoy her new life. She didn't miss the constant hooting from drunken men that smelt of expensive aftershave and tobacco, who thought roses and diamonds, would make everything ok and who never stayed for eggs in the morning. She didn't miss the burn of eyes as their whispered words judging her 'assets' through the corner of their eyes. Max was one of those men, inevitably the kind of guy you'll live to regret, although her new love life ambitions hadn't ended up so well either.

"Look, stop screwing with me. What the hell do you want from me? I'm doing my job, I'm keeping in line, not one of them know anything about the previous me, or so to speak my lifestyle. You brought me here, you keep calling me – I" He brought his hand up to interrupt her.

"Could it be because I wanted to see you Nyphadora? Could it be perhaps because I missed you? Perhaps I still feel for you?" He raised an eyebrow and began to circle Tonks. She shivered, she didn't realise until then but he was perusing her. But standing up to a powerful, well connected and exceedingly wealthy ex boyfriend was one thing. It was quite another when he was your boss. She felt her blood run cold, she didn't like this. Normally if it had been any other of her ex mistakes she would simply give them a good kick in the gonads and that would be the end of it, but unfortunately for her, she didn't want to go pissing off Max, he was the kind of guy that has many favours to call in at any time from basically anyone.

"Look, I need to get back, Harry isn't safe without me there and we both know it. For a kid who is going to save all magical kind he sure has acquired some serious enemies. So err, you know, if you need me for work related stuff your people can call my people or my people can call your people and they'll sip lattes but um, we can't do this. I can't do this. Not again, not with you, not with anyone like you." She backed away from him slowly. Now he was frowning. She didn't want to piss this guy off; she just wanted him to back off so she could do her job. She realised as he took another threatening step towards her that he was going to take at least one more shot.

"I can't help but that this would be more fun if we were naked, and possibly wet. I'm not talking soaking but just enough to make it interesting," Max drawled, his hand reached out to caress her hip. She slapped it away. Her patience was wearing thin.

"I said NO! Ok No!" She inhaled deeply. She quickly turned away and walked down the dark alleyway as fast as her combat boots could take her. Her hair faded back to her now darker until she was once again the pleasantly plain, slightly kooky Tonk's again. Unfortunately not everyone saw her transition from person to person as easy as she did.

Max glared at his ex girlfriend who despite her obvious objection to rekindling their relationship expressed in her move to walk away from him was still appealing as a possible future partner. He could sense her fear. He smiled, those fears were well founded.

His faithful grey owl landed on his shoulder, he quickly scrawled a note to the new Minister of Magic. He was sure he'd be thankful for the anonymous tip that the girl guarding the great Harry Potter was an ex assassin, pot head and very in her less sober moments highly promiscuous.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I don't own hp.


	2. Just another instance

Tonks was still seething as she walked home, she couldn't believe the nerve of Max. Calling her all the time and jeopardising her mission. Her past mistakes did not dictate her future.

No matter what she said to herself she couldn't shake that nagging feeling in the back of her head. It told her that something very bad was going to happen. She pushed it into the back of her mind and looked at her reflection in a parked cars window.

She was nothing like her former self. Her glossy dark brown hair fell into her face, her simple black tank top and black lace skirt just slightly clung to her curves but was nothing like her skin tight leather costumes of what now seemed like a distant past. She wondered if Remus had seen her in her old look he might like her better? It was a purely superficial thought she wanted to entertain, if anything he probably would take her less seriously.

She gave a half hearted croak of laughter, trying awkwardly to trick herself into smiling. He was the first man that didn't find her appealing. This time it wasn't all about her breasts or her butt, he just didn't like her. She couldn't help but feel disheartened. Yeah, they'd had their talks, always with the excuses. He was too poor, too old, too whatever. She just wanted to slap him.

She'd gotten to the point where it hurt to look at him anymore and know once this would be all over she'd fall back in with the same crowds, the same parties, the whirlwind of bottomless shot glasses and disco lights. She'd be back in the same endless rut, until the day she was old and boring and wanted someone who would keep her warm at night and would cook for her. She knew if she went back she'd eventually end up like one of those weird cat ladies with over twenty cats who named them after American snack foods who yelled like a banshee if they weren't fed properly. She shivered. Funny thing was that it wasn't even cold.

She kept walking; another twenty minutes and she'd be back at the Burrow. She didn't not like being there, when she left she realised how previously alien that warm fuzzy feeling of having a family, somewhere where you will always belong and be loved and can go back to, was to her. Especially with Remus there. She could feel they could make a place warm, have a family, be happy and in love – but none the less, unfortunately for her it took two to tango so to speak.

She smoothed her hair back as she saw the outline of the burrow. Something was odd, She realised the only light on was in the kitchen. Her gut wrenched, she understood something bad was going to happen. The nagging feeling overrode her self pity. They were never all in the same room as though something bad was happening. Her pace quickened. As she neared the house she began a light jog.

She stopped; slightly puffed and leaned against the post box as she looked towards to door she noticed extra brooms. One particular broom caught her attention. It had a black handle with a certain evil slimy little weeds initials carved into it. All she could think about or hear was the blood pounding against her skulls deafening her to all other sound. She closed her eyes and began that war of little voices in her head about her next course of action. She finally opened them and tried with all her might to collect herself and try very hard to walk into the Weasley household. She chickened out and turned, she slid into the dark of what at that movement seemed like a safe place and listened to Max's drawl echoing down to her new position underneath the window.

"So, in conclusion, is this really the kind of woman you'd like defending the only thing stopping us from complete inhalation, we only realised the allocation error a short time ago. We would have come sooner but really – you know. Technical errors and what not." He paused. She heard him clear his throat. He did that when he was nervous. "Anyway, Um, yes that concludes this briefing."

She heard the uncomfortable shuffling of the seats as the audience; presumably the Weasley's and Harry and Hermionie who now tried to absorb the horrible, but unfortunately true indiscretions and mistakes which would inevitably build up with stories Vodka, death and men who promised you the world if you promised them a blow job.

Harry must of raised his arm because Max called on him.

"Yes Harry, or err Mr Potter. Which ever you'd prefer?" She stifled a giggle; she could have sworn that she could feel Harry rolling his eyes.

"So is Tonks under arrest or something? Because if she's not I don't get the point. Ex assassin, bounty hunter, participant of promiscuous sex – whatever she _was_ it doesn't matter now. What kind of organisation are you to make her change her entire identity and then blow her cover now for no apparent reason?"

She heard Max clear his throat again. She knew he was smoothing his hair back too. Another one of his nervous traits. He paced slowly back and forth near her window; Tonks felt the air of his walk on the top of her hair as he quickly turned to address the awaiting audience.

"You see, Harry, Ms. Nymphadora, or Tonks as you've taken to calling her is no apparent threat to you because of your untrained sympathetic eye. You seem to have created some sort of bond with her, although alien to me how she gained your trust, all your trust it seems, is that she was once one of the most dangerous women on this earth. She dealt with vampires, werewolves – no offence Mr. Lupin, merpeople, death eaters and well basically anything other possible threat you can think of. " Max paused. Tonks tensed, she knew he was going to reveal what she'd done. Azkaban may of not been a friendly place but she understood that the many years of living on the edge, drink and men that played for fun had left her so detached that she could justify killing an innocent human being. She deserved to be there.

"Tonks was commissioned to do complete a special forces mission for the ministry around this time three years ago. Her target was BartemiusCrouch jnr. Tonks accepted her assignment willingly and was paid her usual fee; the dead line for the kill was set. Ms. Nymphadora was about to complete her mission but she understood that her mission was compromised by one Bertha Jorkins. She decided that because Ms. Jorkins has blown her cover she had to be initiated. Tonks completed her mission but was later convicted for accessory to murder."

"How does that work? Voldemort killer her, her ghost came out of his wand in that weird cage-wand-connect-last-people-it-come-to-life-thing in the graveyard!" Harry piped up.

"I said accessory to murder. Tonks decided that she needed to destroy the evidence that her cover was blown and being a Black she leaked the information to Voldermort. We decided on reasonable grounds the stress of the mission compromised her mental state." Max hated being questioned. Tonks shuddered again, she felt like crying. She really wanted a hug.

She heard someone get up. By the sound of the swish of the long coat and the familiar click of leather lace ups she knew it was Remus. He walked briskly towards Max and in one quick easy blow Remus punched Max square in the face, the crack of bone breaking and the blood splatter of Max's now broken nose although not that loud deafened Tonks. It was one of the many unexplained instances where Remus had taken to doing all that of a dutiful lover or admirer and still claiming that he was too old for love, or the werewolf thing would tear them apart. Every time she let herself believe that, another one of these instances occurred, to play with her heart strings yet again and give her hope that maybe one day, Remus and she would have a home like this, a family, a life together.

Don't own, etc.


End file.
